Ascent of Crystal Mountain on 2006-03-26

Ascent Trip Report

From top of High Campbell Chairlift (Silver Queen summit), skied down to the Throne/Siver Queen col, hiked up about a hundred feet with skis on our shoulders, then made a roller-coaster ski traverse along the west side of the The Throne, the well-worn path navigating beteeen narrow trees. Then a final 250 foot climb up the NW ridge to the top of Silver King, the summit of Crystal Mountain.

This is a standard and popular trip for skiers at the Crystal Mountain resort. The summit is well defined and offers a nice flat spot to rest.

Today it was snowing lightly, and there was some nice powder. I skied the "Brain Damage" run from the top, while Glenn tried "Pinball", a run named after what you become if you fall. These north-face runs drop you into the Elizabeth Lake basin, which is a bit of a crater requiring some side-stepping or herringboning to get out of before you can ski down to the Forest Queen Lift.